‘Living for the moment’ – a masterpiece by Ran-D. In 2020 the song from 2009 experienced a reboot and still touches millions of Hardstylers out there. How Ran-D is doing at the moment, how it came to the remake and who he would like to work with one day, you can find out here.
Anna Ströhlein & Zwiesel
As one of the Hardstyle kings – it’s nearly impossible the world of Hardstyle without a Ran-D. His tracks like ‘Zombie‘ or the Defqon.1 anthem ‘No Guts – No Glory‘ were real milestones, and like only a few he shaped the nowadays hardstyle tremendously. With his latest album ‘We rule the night’ and a special label showcase tour – the year 2020 seemed to become his year. But we all know, what happened. Hardstylemag talked to Ran-D himself, to find out about his current life and what he is planning.
But before we start – who is Mr. ‘We Rule the night – Ran-D’
Randy Wieland was born in the Netherlands on May 18, 1981. Like many of us, he visited dozens of festivals, through which he gradually became more and more fascinated by the world of Hardstyle.
Then in 2002, he started his career with the Dutch music label “Special Records”. ‘D-Pression‘ was his first single which he released together with A-Drive on this label. Together with DJ Pulse and MC Rems his second single was released. None other than DJ Zatox from Italy became aware of him.
Thanks to the support of Zatox he released the single ‘Say Yeah‘ together with Alpha Twins alias Alpha² on Alpha² Records, a sublabel of Scantraxx.
As a result, the duo gave him an appearance at the Q-Dance event “Qountdown” in December 2008, together with DJ B-Front. This gig was his first big gig in front of a big festival audience. There he performed solo for the first time in the following year.
Meeting Adaro
During this time he also met the Dutch DJ and producer Adaro. Together they produced several tracks and decided to form the duo Gunz for Hire in 2011. Together they then performed at various events and also released several singles together.
In the years from 2012 to 2015 Ran-D was signed to Scantraxx and also released several singles there. For example ‘Dimensions‘ the anthem of the Reverze 2013 or the anthem for the Defqon 2015 – ‘No guts, no glory‘. ‘FCK EDM’ should be a household name to all of us.
Roughstate
In 2015 he founded his own label Roughstate together with Adaro, Frequencerz and B-Front.
No matter if Defqon 1, Qlimax, X-Qlusive, Qontinent, or Tomorrowland, you always have to expect Ran-D to be there. I mean, honestly – who of you can still remember his gig at Qlimax 2016, when he played his remix of ‘Zombie‘ and the whole GelreDome in Arnhem sang along?! What a strong performance by Ran-D. This man and his music, are just essential parts of any Hardstyle event.
Let’s talk to Ran-D
It’s always the same, once you have the chance to ask your idol questions, the list could never end. Cause there are so many to ask.
How are you at the moment? Is Everybody healthy?
Ran-D: I’m doing fine, and luckily my family and friends are healthy. Obviously, I’m missing playing at events for a real crowd a lot, but I’m staying positive by making new music and doing online streams, and I have good hopes that next year will be a better year for us all in this industry. What was the funniest/strangest/worst thing to happen to you at a festival or agig? I was playing in Italy in the club Shock!, a place which I really love and where I played many times, and that night was an anniversary for the club. The idea was that we would celebrate with a cake with candles and everyone would sing happy birthday and after that, I would open with ‘Living For The Moment’. Unfortunately, the cake (with a very sticky topping) ended sticky side down on the turntables and the mixer. ;-D The whole club was Shocked, ;-D hahah, get it?! I know there’s some footage of this flying around on the web.
Haha, yes we saw the pics. Living for the moment – what made you produce the original version, what was the story behind it? What made you rework LFTM?
Ran-D: I really made Living For The Moment from the heart. The track is about my own life experience and my memories with my friends at Hardstyle events. I was going through a tough period when my father passed away, and I went to Hardstyle events a lot during that time. I made a few really great friendships in this period, and my family, friends and music pulled me through. A couple of years later I wrote Living For The Moment about this period, the friendship and the beautiful memories we made together. Making music has been my salvation in a way. It helps me to translate my feelings in music. Making music has always been my passion, and playing this music for people at events and seeing that emotion come to life is the greatest thing there is. 2020 has been a challenging year, and I wanted to create a track that would give people a positive vibe.
“..people deserve a positive vibe track”
A track that would be really fitting to what we all feel in this time. We miss that feeling of being together at events, feeling connected, forgetting about troubles for a moment, and creating friendships and memories. When I was talking to a friend, he told me “Mate, you already created this track, why don’t you remix Living For The Moment, this track says it all”. I thought it was a great idea, and also felt that I could really bring new life to the track and give it a fresh vibe. I’m super happy with the end result, and all the positive reactions I get to the track and the videoclip. I can’t wait to play the track live for all you guys, at that moment I think I’ll realize more than ever how special these moments are and that we shouldn’t take everything for granted.
If you could work together with anybody – dead or alive – who would it be and why?
Ran-D: Freddie Mercury. I listened to Queen so much as a kid, the tracks are timeless and I still enjoy listening to Queen once in while. Best voice ever!!
If you could have a superpower – what would it be?
Ran-D: At this moment I would love to have a global virus eradicating power.
Do you have a message for your fans?
Ran-D: Stay positive in these times, I know it’s a challenging time for everyone and we all miss going to events and connecting with people, dancing to our favorite Hardstyle tracks. But it won’t be long before we can do again what we all love so much, and I’m sure we’ll even enjoy appreciate it more than ever. I can’t wait for that glorious moment to be playing at events all over the globe again and party with you guys. Stay healthy guys, and thank you for your support in these times!! It means a lot.